Turning Insight Into Action
Attorney Ethics and Legal Marijuana: Advisory Opinion 2016-6
Summary This past June, a number of Ohio attorneys (including our firm) submitted a request to the Board for an advisory opinion on three distinct issues (for a primer on the professional issues involving Ohio’s medical marijuana law, click here): Whether an Ohio lawyer may ethically…
Breaking: Devastating Advisory Opinion from the Ohio Supreme Court Board of Professional Conduct
We’ve previously covered the topic of Ohio attorney professional ethics relating to House Bill 523 and the coming medical marijuana industry in Ohio. Well, today Ohio lawyers received the much-anticipated advisory opinion from the Board of Professional Conduct and it was…. less than encouraging….
Attorney Ethics and Legal Marijuana
With the recent passage of H.B. 523, medical marijuana in Ohio will become a reality this September. Most people are familiar with the fact that the rule-making process will take some time, but Ohio attorneys are presented with a more difficult question: can we…
Drugged Driving?
Ohio is one of six states that have legal tests in place to determine if a driver is impaired by marijuana – but what do these tests really tell us? Not much, according to a recent study commissioned by the American Auto Association (AAA),…
Ohio’s General Assembly Votes to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Yesterday the Ohio General Assembly completed its work on HB 523 by passing the final version of the bill to legalize medical marijuana in Ohio. The bill is now in front of Governor John Kasich, who has 10 days from passage to act on…
The Transition From Policy to Practice
In the wake of a medical marijuana bill clearing the General Assembly, a discussion of policy can begin to transition into a discussion of science. The legitimacy of cannabis as a pharmaceutical has created controversy for decades – this is thanks in part to…
Ohio Senate Committee Amends Medical Marijuana Bill
Today I had the opportunity to offer testimony on H.B. 523 to the Ohio Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee, which is considering the medical marijuana bill passed by the Ohio House last week. My testimony focused on the need for clarity as to…
Ohio House Passes Medical Marijuana Bill
It’s official – Ohio is on its way to becoming the 25th state to legalize medical marijuana. Today, May 10th 2016, the Ohio House approved a bill which allows for the use of marijuana in patients with qualifying medical conditions and a doctor’s recommendation. The legislation (House…
A Big Change for Marijuana Regulation This Summer?
By mid-year the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) plans to reconsider marijuana’s classification as a Schedule I narcotic. In an April letter to several U.S senators, federal officials wrote that they hope to reach a “final determination” on rescheduling the drug – a decision that…
What’s next for the Ohio legalization movement? UPDATE
Last night Issue 3 tanked at the ballot box by basically at 64-36 margin, much to the disappointment of a few very wealthy people. Despite outspending their opponents almost 16-1, Issue 3 supporters could not manage to convince the Ohio electorate to adopt its vision…